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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Rest of 2016 from a MAJOR SLACKER!!!

I got behind because of my awesome trip to Europe. I wanted to blog about it and not miss any details, which led me to feeling overwhelmed and just not keeping up on life...

SO HERE IS A MARATHON OF A POST catching up from July to December, and let me tell you...

A LOT HAPPENED!!!

So read if you want, or just scroll through pictures, or close now.

I needed to record all these awesome events...

So July 1-10 I had the AWESOME opportunity to go to Hawaii with my Aunty Tia!

We paddle boarded in Haliewa (only $15 for a paddle board rental for an hour and a shave ice!)

I'm proud to report neither of us fell in!

We saw lots of amazing turtles!!!

Spent time in the beautiful nature of Hawaii.

Swam in waterfalls.

Zipped in Kahuku.

Snorkeled! (I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of snorkeling haha.)

Hiked.

And hiked some more! We had such an amazing time just relaxing and adventuring!

We also enjoyed a family reunion and felt my grandpa's spirit of Aloha everywhere! It was such an amazing experience and I feel so blessed to have shared it with my incredible aunt.

When we got home it was wedding crunch time for Kiana.

Family bachelorette party getting pedicures and karaoke!!!

Jeff got an AR15 which called for us to try it out. I just happened to do it FOB style, fresh out of the pool.

Kiana was such a beautiful bride and we were honored to be bridesmaids!

Her and Austin make an amazing couple and their story is seriously incredible...

All the girls ready to hula at the reception.

I found a new passion...FAMILY HISTORY work! Who would have thought. My grandma's mission is at the Family Search center so I went and had her teach me how to do it and I've fallen in love with it! We were able to find a bunch of family names to take to Nauvoo and do their work in the temple there.

Trevor came HOME!!!! To make him feel at home we all wore sombreros and mustaches with shirts that had his face on them! Maze obviously wore it the best!

August 4th... Is this real life??? We couldn't believe he was really home!!!

All our supportive family!

The same week Trevor got home was Brad and Emilee's wedding, August 6th!

Brad and his groomsmen.

Right after all the wedding festivities we made our way to St. Louis to join my family on our family vacation to Nauvoo to visit my grandparents on their mission!

The St. Louis arch!

I saw the famous Mississippi river and learned that fireflies are REAL!

The Nauvoo temple is beautiful and the statue in memory of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith was absolutely beautiful. I had no idea how amazing Nauvoo is and I fell in love with it! The spirit of the early saints is so strong there an it is such a beautiful and lively place!

We were able to go as a family and do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo temple. Not only did we do work, but we did our own family names that I was able to find and it was absolutely amazing!

My grandparents had the privilege of serving at Carthage jail while on their mission so we had the opportunity to go and have a tour from them. That was such an amazing experience to hear my grandparents bear testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and all the work he and the early apostles and saints did for the church and ultimately for us today.

That was an experience I will cherish forever.

My grandparents are singers and actors, I HAD NO IDEA how talented they were. I learned that their mission included acting, singing, teaching, memorizing, working hard, and smiling all the day long. They are such great examples of true and faithful servants of the Lord and I was so proud to be their granddaughter and tell everyone they were my grandparents.

Aren't they adorable???

Like seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than that!!!

Nauvoo is so cool, they have plays and shows telling the stories of the early saints. They also have missionaries that serve in each of the preserved houses of Nauvoo, telling the stories of those saints and how their lives were in that day.

I'm telling you I learned SO MUCH, and truly gained a love and appreciation for those saints. I LOVED NAUVOO and truly did not want to leave!!! EVERYONE NEEDS TO VISIT NAUVOO!!!

This is a movie we put together to surprise my grandparents when they got home.

And this is a cute highlight reel of Nauvoo made by my little sister Sydnee! This was her first movie ever and I was seriously impressed.

While we were in Nauvoo we got a text from Steph telling us she and David had eloped. Isn't she beautiful?

When we got home it was back to work! Kalamity and Kaos put on a car wash for Jonah Tuttle! We were able to raise just over $700 for him!

We also had the official party celebration for my Aunty Irene and Jared!

And then Jaden got home!!!

And we took this crazy cousin picture. I still can't believe how big all these kids are. WHERE DOES TIME GO???

As soon as we got home from Nauvoo Trevor made his way to Utah as a walk on on the football team. We saw him on TV a couple times and of course had to take a picture!

And then my adorable grandparents came home September 3rd!

Kalamity had a benefit concert for Mackayla Marshall where we raised over $4,000 for her!

I love Kalamity and being able to give service in such a fun and unique way. It has changed my life and I am so grateful for it!!!

Typical evening for us! I'm in my nighty as soon as possible and Jeff checks his football scores and news.

I love him. Our fertility journey has been really hard, especially the last few months of 2016. We went to a fertility specialist and found out that I officially have a diagnosis of PCOS. We've done two rounds of timed intercourse (you still take metformin, letrozole, dexamethasone, baby asprin, and gonal F shots) and IUI (you still take metformin, letrozole, dexamethasone, baby asprin, and gonal F shots then have them place the sperm through the cervix) with no luck. Through each round we found my body has a problem with insulin and FSH which prevents me from ovulating.
Anyway, it's been emotional and hard, each time getting a little harder. The medications and hormones make me feel like a crazy person, but each time Jeff has so much love and grace and hope and he loves me regardless. I am so grateful for that. This picture above was taken after a "solve the world's problems" talk and walk and he lifted my spirits in ways I never knew he could.

Jeff turned 27 on October 5th! We had a birthday lunch for him at THE HABIT and it was a fun afternoon!

My favorite birthday tradition is going around the table and sharing what we love about the birthday boy or girl, and we did just that for Jeff and it warmed my heart and made me cry! I'm so lucky to have him.

Early morning of Jeff's birthday we got the news that Jeff's sweet great grandma Hirschi passed away in her sleep. As soon as we got the call we drove to her house to be with her body for a few minutes where we got a special confirmation of the plan of salvation. She is such a beautiful woman, inside and out and she blessed so many lives. I love how she was always happy and she always remembered names and dates and events, she knew everything and always showed she cared. She was strong spirited and a great example to everyone who knew her.

Major turned 8, I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT! He was baptized and it was a great day! It's crazy to think that Jeff's first family party was Major's 1st birthday and now he's 8!!! WHERE DOES TIME GO???

Then we had a special surprise that I had been planning with Paula for a few months!!! PAULA CAME TO VISIT!!!!! She landed in Vegas October 18th, my mom's birthday, so Jeff and I went and picked her up then surprised my mom at her birthday dinner!!!

She stayed with us in our cute little house! We had all kinds of activities planned with pumpkin carving on the list, it was her first time and she did awesome!

Guess which pumpkin belongs to who...

We had family pictures scheduled and it was really special to have Paula in them. It felt like our family was complete. She truly became another sister 7 years ago when she lived with us and it felt the exact same with her again.

She stayed with us for 10 days and the days just flew by! I MISS HER but we have plans of having her come more often!!!

I can't wait for the next time Paula comes to visit!!!

Little highlight of Paula's visit!

Sunday drive to find fall leaves!!! SUCCESS!!

Trip up north to see Trev and to watch a game!

Happy Halloween from Elsa and Olaf! Jeff was the hit of the Halloween party, he had kids coming up to him all night asking, "do you like warm hugs?...do you want one??"

Sydnee turned 18!!! She's an adult and she will be graduating this year... I'm not ready.

Jeff's family dog, Millie, passed away and it broke Jeff's heart. She was such a sweet and funny dog. She was always there snuggling with us when we were dating and always under the table begging for food. She was a good dog and Jeff loved her dearly.

Thanksgiving day poses in Zion.

Warm and sunny November in St George! I LOVE ST GEORGE!!!

The day after Thanksgiving we had our Christmas lights up and we were ready to go! Jeff had a blast too!

We won an awesome photo session so our 2016 family pictures were taken!

Over the last couple years we've dreamt and watched the house market just dreaming of the day we buy our own house. Well after TONS of research and house tours we finally found the best option for us, building with SALISBURY.

We looked at many house plans and lots of frustrating changes but finally found the perfect house and lot for us and we decided to take the leap of faith! We met with the design center and made it official December 6th!!!

Then we had an anniversary photo shoot for our fourth anniversary. Cecilee has purchased this session for us a year and a half ago and I was saving it in hopes of a maternity shoot, but since that wasn't happening I decided I'd stop waiting and just enjoy the stage we are in and document it.

Our anniversary tradition!

From left to right...Wedding day to year 4!

We had our annual benefit concert December 16th and 17th for Calum Campbell!

Jeff and Brad both danced in this concert as Olaf and the Beast and they were hilarious!!!

Emme came and LOVED it! It made me feel so special to have her there and looking at us like we were amazing. It made a special night that much more special.

I love being able to serve so closely with my aunt who is also my sister, best friend, coach, and boss. She is such a great example to me and I am so grateful for her!

Calum and Mickey and Minnie! We were able to raise $16,000 bringing our year total for him over $35,000.

It was such an amazing night full of love and service!!!

What it's all about!

Our empty lot!

Amy returned from her mission December 24th, Christmas Eve!

It is so wonderful to be complete again!

Sydnee had her last State cheer competition so of course we had to buy a shout out (that got completely butchered.)

Look at that toe touch!

They took state in two categories, 2nd in one, and 3rd in another!

Kalamity, Kaos and the Vault had the opportunity to perform at the Globetrotters half time and it was such a fun experience.

I guess you could say our house popped up overnight. CRAZY RIGHT???

This last Wednesday we opened for James the Mormon in the benefit concert for Evan Moss.

Well I'm sure I missed A LOT of other memorable events but that covers all the main ones!
Note to self...DO NOT SLACK!!!

Now back to my weekly routine of updates, details on Hawaii, Nauvoo, and the rest of Europe (coming soon)!!!

HAPPY DAY OF LOVE! Take time to show everyone you love them!!!
My grandpa always said, do it while they are living not when they're dead. He was specifically talking about flowers but meant everything!!!! SO HAPPY DAY OF LOVE!!!

I can honestly say I am happy and content with where my life is at this very moment. I know I should be careful in saying that because it...

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About Me.

I'm not any particular type of blogger. I just blog about my wonderful, happy, crazy life with it's ups and downs. I'm not looking to have a million followers or hit it big, just to remember life and all the interesting parts that make mine so great. However, if you must know...I love my husband. I love Oreos and milk. I laugh more than I cry. I'm crazy about sunrises and sunsets. I try to make everyone happy. I love to be creative in my outfits. I dream about clothes and decorating. I love my family. I'm easygoing. I love "love" and all the good and bad that entails. I love the LDS church. I love my Savior. Basically, I try to enjoy life not just endure it.